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Simon Pagenaud

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Simon Pagenaud
Born
Simon Pierre Michel Pagenaud

(1984-05-18) May 18, 1984 (age 42)
Montmorillon, France
OccupationProfessional racing driver (retired)
Years active2002–2023
Known for2016 IndyCar Series champion, 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner, multiple endurance race victories including 24 Hours of Daytona

Simon Pierre Michel Pagenaud (; born 18 May 1984) is a retired French professional race car driver who last participated in the NTT IndyCar Series with Meyer Shank Racing, piloting the No. 60 Honda. Following a distinguished tenure in sports car racing—most notably securing the premier title in the 2010 American Le Mans Series—he shifted focus to IndyCar, where he earned the 2016 championship and triumphed at the 2019 Indianapolis 500, becoming both the first French winner since 1920 and the first pole sitter to claim victory since 2009.

Pagenaud also achieved overall wins at the 2022 24 Hours of Daytona and 2023 24 Hours of Daytona events, driving for Meyer Shank Racing.

Early years

Originating from Montmorillon, Pagenaud began working at age 14 in his family’s supermarket, eventually overseeing the video game section. After completing business studies, he returned to this retail environment. His initial motorsport opportunities were financed by his family’s driving school.

Career

Pagenaud’s early racing career included competing in French Formula Renault during 2002–2003 and participating in the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2002 and 2004. He progressed to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2005, concluding the season ranked 16th. Relocating to the United States in 2006, he captured the Champ Car Atlantic title during his rookie year with Team Australia, narrowly edging out Graham Rahal.

The Atlantic championship victory awarded Pagenaud a $2 million prize toward a Champ Car seat for 2007. On 13 February that year, he confirmed his continuation with Team Australia for Champ Car competition. He ended the season eighth in the standings, highlighted by three consecutive fourth-place finishes across Canadian races.

Following the dissolution of Champ Car, Pagenaud transitioned to the American Le Mans Series in 2008, co-driving an Acura ARX-01 LMP2 for De Ferran Motorsports alongside former CART champion Gil de Ferran, finishing 14th overall.

2009

In the 2009 season, Pagenaud and de Ferran Motorsports demonstrated notable progress, securing second place in ALMS LMP1, trailing champions Highcroft Racing by only 17 points. Their campaign included three victories, three pole positions, and six fastest laps over ten events.

Additionally, Pagenaud competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP1 category with privateer team Pescarolo Sport, driving a Peugeot FAP 908. The crew retired after completing 210 laps; ultimately, David Brabham led factory Peugeot Sport to victory.

2010

For the 2010 ALMS season, Pagenaud joined Patrón Highcroft Racing, replacing Scott Sharp to partner with Brabham in the ARX-01c LMP1 vehicle. After four races, they topped the LMP1 standings with three wins and accumulated 91 points.

At that year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, Pagenaud drove for Peugeot’s factory squad in car No. 3 alongside Pedro Lamy and Sébastien Bourdais. Despite securing pole position, their entry retired early due to suspension issues. The No. 1 Peugeot also withdrew late in the race, allowing Audi to regain overall victory.

During this event, Pagenaud faced off against his own Highcroft Racing team making its Le Mans debut; Brabham’s Acura maintained second place until a cooling system failure forced retirement during the final hours.

2014

On 10 May, he claimed victory at the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, an event where his father witnessed him compete at that track for the very first time.

2015

In 2015, Pagenaud transitioned from Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to Team Penske. He came close to winning the 2015 Indianapolis 500, leading with under 30 laps remaining while contending with Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan. Ultimately, he finished tenth as his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya secured the win. Although he did not achieve any victories that year, Pagenaud extended his contract with Team Penske into the 2016 season.

2016

Pagenaud began his strongest IndyCar campaign by reaching the podium in five consecutive races, which included three back-to-back wins. Alongside teammate Will Power, he emerged as a leading championship challenger. His impressive performance in the latter part of the season earned him his first IndyCar Series title, providing Team Penske with another championship during its 50th anniversary year. He ended the season with five wins and eight podium finishes.

2017–2019

After failing to win in 2018, Pagenaud rebounded by capturing victory at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and then winning the 2019 Indianapolis 500 from pole position, becoming the first French driver to triumph there in 99 years. He briefly held the championship lead over teammate Josef Newgarden but ultimately finished second in the overall standings. During 2019, Pagenaud also secured pole position and won at the 2019 Honda Indy Toronto, as well as earning pole at the 2019 Iowa 300, though Newgarden took the race win.

2020

In the virtual 2020 iRacing Indy 500 event, Pagenaud faced controversy after being accused of intentionally causing a collision with leader Lando Norris, resulting in criticism regarding his sportsmanship.

He placed second in the opening round of the 2020 IndyCar Series at Texas Motor Speedway and followed that with a third-place finish at the IndyGP despite starting from 20th on the grid. Although a fuel pump failure relegated him to last place on the grid for race one of the Iowa IndyCar 250, Pagenaud managed to recover and take the lead by lap 178, ultimately winning that 250-lap event—his most recent victory in IndyCar competition.

2021

Entering a contract year in the 2021 IndyCar Series, Pagenaud faced a difficult season alongside Team Penske, which recorded only three wins none of which were earned by him. His top finishes included two third places at St. Petersburg and at the 2021 Indianapolis 500. A combination of frequent misfortune and on-track collisions involving teammates contributed to him finishing eighth in the drivers' championship for a second consecutive season. By year-end, reports suggested Pagenaud was unlikely to renew his deal with Team Penske.

2022

After a challenging year in 2021, Pagenaud departed from Penske and signed with Meyer Shank Racing, teaming up once more with former colleague Hélio Castroneves. Despite an encouraging start highlighted by a runner-up finish at the Indy GP, performance declined throughout the season for car No. 60, resulting in Pagenaud concluding the year fifteenth in points.

2023

Pagenaud made a return to compete in the LMP2 category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Cool Racing, marking his first appearance at Le Mans since achieving second place overall with Peugeot Sport in 2011.

During practice for the 2023 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, he experienced a serious crash but credited IndyCar’s aeroscreen technology with saving his life. Due to suffering from post-concussion syndrome following this incident, Pagenaud was sidelined for the remainder of the IndyCar season. In his absence, Meyer Shank Racing fielded Conor Daly, Tom Blomqvist, and Linus Lundqvist—all making their IndyCar debuts as substitutes.

For the 2024 campaign, Felix Rosenqvist replaced Pagenaud at Meyer Shank Racing. Ongoing effects from injuries sustained at Mid-Ohio prevented him from pursuing further IndyCar drives, effectively putting his racing career on hold.

Career overview

Season Championship Team Events Victories Pole positions Fastest laps Points scored Final standing
2001 Formula Campus by Renault and Elf Filière FFSA 17 4 6 ? 209 2nd
2002 Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup ASM 1 0 0 0 4 25th
Championnat de France FFSA de Formule Renault 8 1 2 2 93 3rd
2003 Formula Renault 2000 Masters ASM 8 1 0 1 86 3rd
Formula Renault 2000 Germany 2 0 0 0 0 NC
Championnat de France Formule Renault 2000 10 0 1 1 114 6th
2004 Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup Graff Racing 17 2 2 2 246 2nd
Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 6 3 0 4 142 6th

* Current season underway.

Results in Formula Renault 3.5 Series

(Template:Motorsport driver results legend#key)

Year Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 Final position (DC) Total points
2005 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season OAK Racing (Saulnier Racing) Circuit Zolder (ZOL
Race 1)
8
ZOL (Race 2)
4
Circuit de Monaco (MON
Race 1)
10
Circuit Ricardo Tormo (VAL
Race 1)
5
VAL (Race 2)
11
Circuit de la Sarthe#Bugatti Circuit (LMS
Race 1)
10
LMS (Race 2)
Ret
Circuito Urbano Bilbao (BIL
Race 1)
11
BIL (Race 2)
12
Motorsport Arena Oschersleben (OSC
Race 1)
Ret
OSC (Race 2)
DNS
Donington Park (DON
Race 1)
8
DON (Race 2)
5
Autódromo do Estoril (EST
Race 1)
9
EST (Race 2)
11
Autodromo Nazionale Monza (MNZ
Race 1)
11
MNZ (Race 2)
12
16th 30


Results in American Open-Wheel Racing

(key) (Events highlighted in bold denote pole positions, while those in italics represent fastest laps)

Champ Car Atlantic

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Final Position Points Earned
2006 Team Australia LBH
4th
HOU
2nd
MTY
2nd
POR
23rd
CLE1
2nd
CLE2
5th
TOR
4th
EDM
1st
SJO
9th
DEN
3rd
MTL
2nd
Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America#ROA
17th
1st 258

Champ Car

Year Team Car Number Chassis Model Engine Type 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Final Standing Points Accumulated
2007 Team Australia 15 Panoz DP01 Cosworth XFE LVG
12th
LBH
14th
HOU
5th
POR
8th
CLE
5th
MTT
4th
TOR
4th
EDM
4th
SJO
10th
ROA
11th
ZOL
12th
ASN
6th
SRF
5th
MXC
6th

8th

232


IndyCar Series

Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points

|- |rowspan=3 | 2011 !rowspan=2 nowrap | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing ! 24 !rowspan=3 nowrap | Dallara IR-05 !rowspan=6 | Honda | | | | | | | | | | | | colspan=8 | ! 31st ! 56 |- ! 22 | colspan=11 | | |- ! nowrap | HVM Racing ! 78 | colspan=13 | | | | | style="background:#FFFFFF" | "LVS" 1
| |- | 2012 ! rowspan=2 nowrap | Schmidt–Hamilton Motorsports ! rowspan=3 | 77 ! rowspan=12 nowrap | Dallara DW12 | style="background:#CFEAFF;" | STP
| style="background:#DFFFDF;" | ALA
| style="background:#DFDFDF;" | LBH
| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | SAO
| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | INDY
| style="background:#FFDF9F;" | DET
| style="background:#CFEAFF;" | TXS
| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | MIL
| style="background:#DFFFDF;" | IOW
| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | TOR
| style="background:#efcfff;" | EDM
| style="background:#FFDF9F;" | MOH
| style="background:#CFEAFF;" | SNM
| style="background:#FFDF9F;" | 2012 Grand Prix of Baltimore#Race results (IndyCar)  —  IndyCar Series  —  Grand Prix of Baltimore  —  Results and standings (IndyCar) (IndyCar) #race_results "BAL"
| style="background:#CFCFFF;" colspan=4 | ! 5th ! 387 |- ... |-... |-... |-... |-... |-... |}

1 The Las Vegas Indy 300 was cancelled following the fatal accident involving Dan Wheldon during a 15-car collision on lap 11.

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2012 Dallara Honda 23 16 Schmidt–Hamilton HP Motorsports
2013 Dallara Honda 21 8 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton HP Motorsports
2014 Dallara Honda 5 12 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports
2015 Dallara Chevrolet 3 10 Team Penske
2016 Dallara Chevrolet 8 19 Team Penske
2017 Dallara Chevrolet 23 14 Team Penske
2018 Dallara Chevrolet 2 6 Team Penske
2019 Dallara Chevrolet 1 1 Team Penske
2020 Dallara Chevrolet 25 22 Team Penske
2021 Dallara Chevrolet 26 3 Team Penske
2022 Dallara Honda 16 8 Meyer Shank Racing
2023 Dallara Honda 22 25 Meyer Shank Racing


Le Mans 24 Hours outcomes

Year Team Co-drivers Vehicle Category Completed Laps Overall Position Class Position
2008 "Team Oreca"-Matmut "Marcel Fässler, Olivier Panis" "Courage-Oreca LC70-Judd" "LMP1" 147 "DNF" "DNF"
2009 "Pescarolo Sport" "Jean-Christophe Boullion, Benoît Tréluyer" "Peugeot 908 HDi FAP" "LMP1" 210 "DNF" "DNF"
2010 "Team Peugeot Total" "Sébastien Bourdais, Pedro Lamy" "Peugeot 908 HDi FAP" "LMP1" 38 "DNF" "DNF"
2011 "Team Peugeot Total" "Sébastien Bourdais, Pedro Lamy" "Peugeot 908" "LMP1" 355 2nd 2nd
2023 "Cool Racing" "Reshad de Gerus, Vladislav Lomko" "Oreca 07-Gibson" "LMP2" 158 "DNF" "DNF"

American Le Mans Series performance

Year Team Category Chassis Engine Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7 Race 8 Race 9 Race 10 Race 11 Final Standing Points Accumulated
2008 De Ferran Motorsports LMP2 Acura ARX-01b Acura 3.4L V8 SEB STP LBH UTA
3
LIM
7
MOH
Ret
ROA
8
MOS
5
DET
3
PET
5
MON
2
9th 85
2009 LMP1 Acura ARX-02a Acura 4.0L V8 SEB
Ret
STP
Ret
LBH
1
UTA
1
LIM
1
MOH
1
ROA
2
MOS
2
PET
7
MON
1
2nd

162

Year Team/Entrant Category Chassis Model Engine Type Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 Round 8 Final Rank Total Points

2010

Highcroft Racing

LMP2 / LMP

HPD ARX-01C

(HPD) 3.4L V8

style="background:#DFDFDF;" | 2010 12 Hours of Sebring

colspan=7|

style="background:#FFFFBF;" | 2010 Petit Le Mans

colspan=2|

style="background:#FFFFBF;" | First place

style="background:#FFFFBF;" | 182

2011

Highcroft Racing

LMP1

HPD ARX-01e

(HPD) 3.4L V8

style="background:#DFDFDF;" | 2011 12 Hours of Sebring

2011 American Le Mans Series at Long Beach

2011 Northeast Grand Prix

2011 Grand Prix of Mosport

2011 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge

2011 Road Race Showcase

2011 Baltimore Grand Prix (ALMS)

2011 American Le Mans Monterey

colspan=3|

NC

01

Peugeot Sport Total

LMP1

Peugeot 908

(PSA) HDI 3.7 L Turbo V8 Diesel

colspan=8|

style="background:#EFCFFF;" | 2011 Petit Le Mans

colspan=2|

Year Team/Entrant Category Chassis Model Engine Specification Event 1 Event 2 Event 3 Event 4 Event 5 Event 6 Event 7 Event 8 Event 9 Event10 Final Standing Points Earned

2012

Muscle Milk Pickett Racing

P1

HPD ARX-03a

(Honda) 3.4 L V8

style="background:#EFCFFF;" | 2012 12 Hours of Sebring

2012 American Le Mans Series at Long Beach

2012 American Le Mans Monterey

2012 Northeast Grand Prix

2012 Grand Prix of Mosport

2012 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge

2012 Road Race Showcase

2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge

2012 American Le Mans Series VIR 240

2012 Petit Le Mans

Eighth place

20

2013

Level 5 Motorsports

P2

HPD ARX-03b

Honda HR28TT 2.8 L Turbo V6

style="background:#DFDFDF;" | 2013 12 Hours of Sebring

2013 American Le Mans Series at Long Beach

2013 American Le Mans Monterey

2013 Northeast Grand Prix

2013 SportsCar Grand Prix

2013 Orion Energy Systems 245

2013 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge

2013 ALMS at COTA

2013 ALMS at VIR

6th place

20

1 Competed in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup; no points were granted for the American Le Mans Series.

IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races shown in bold denote pole position)

|2020 | nowrap  ||  |Acura Team Penske | 6 | DPi | nowrap  ||  Acura ARX-05 | nowrap  || Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" ||  |DAY
| |DAY | |SEB | |ELK | |ATL | |MOH | style="background:#FFDF9F;" || |PET
| |LGA | style="background:#DFDFDF;" ||  |SEB
| colspan=2| |2021 | nowrap ||  |Ally Cadillac Racing | 48 | DPi | nowrap ||  Cadillac DPi-V.R | nowrap || Cadillac 5.5 L V8 | style="background:#DFDFDF;" ||  |DAY
| style="background:#DFFFDF;" ||  |SEB
| |MOH | |DET | style="background:#DFFFDF;" ||  |WGL
| |WGL | |ELK | |LGA | |LBH | style="background:#DFFFDF;" ||  |PET
| |2022 || nowrap ||  Meyer Shank Racing|Curb-Agajanian || 60 || DPi || nowrap || Acura ARX-05 || nowrap || Acura AR35TT Turbo V6 || style="background:#FFFFBF;" ||                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 1Daytona24HoursofDaytonaRaceVictoryforMSRandCurb-AgajanianAllianceinIMSADPiCompetition.
Year Team No. Category Manufacturer Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Final Position Points
2014 Extreme Speed Motorsports 2 P HPD ARX-03b Honda HR28TT 2.8 L V6 Turbocharged DAY
SEB
LBH LGA DET WGL MOS IMS ELK COA PET 32nd 52
2015 Corvette Racing 4 GTLM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 DAY
SEB
LBH LGA WGL MOS ELK VIR COA PET 18th 54
2016 Action Express Racing 31 P Coyote Corvette DP Chevrolet 5.5L V8 DAY
SEB LBH LGA DET WGL MOS ELK COA PET
22nd 55
2017 Team Penske 6 P Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8

DAY

SEB

LBH

COA

DET

WGL

MOS

ELK

LGA

style="background:#ffdf9f;" | PET

30th

30

2018 Acura Team Penske 6 P Acura ARX-05 Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6 DAY
SEB
LBH MOH DET WGL MOS ELK LGA PET
34th

56

2019 Acura Team Penske 6 DPi Acura ARX-05 Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6 DAY
SEB
LBH MOH DET WGL MOS ELK LGA

|PET
|

75 |

17th | 90 |

12th || 1203 ||

</tbody> </tbody> </tbody> </tbody>

Le Mans Series Performance

Year Team Category Vehicle Power Unit Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Final Position Points Earned
2009 Team Peugeot Total LMP1 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDI 5.5 L Turbocharged V12
(Diesel)
CAT SPA
1st
ALG NÜR SIL 19th place 11
2010 CAS SPA
1st
ALG HUN SIL 21st overall 18
2011 Peugeot 908 Peugeot HDI 3.7 L Turbocharged V8
(Diesel)
CAS SPA
8th
IMO SIL1
1st
EST Not Classified 0
1 Participation was for the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, no points awarded in the European Le Mans Series.

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Performance

Year Team Category Vehicle Power Unit Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7
2010 Team Peugeot Total LMP1 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDI 5.5 L Turbocharged V12
(Diesel)
SIL PET1
1st
ZHU
4th
2011 Highcroft Racing LMP1 Acura ARX-01e Honda Performance Development (HPD) 3.4L V8 2011 12 Hours of Sebring1
2nd
Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908 Peugeot HDI 3.7 L Turbocharged V8 (Diesel) 2011 1000 km of Spa1
8th
2011 24 Hours of Le Mans1
2nd
2011 6 Hours of Silverstone
1st
2011 Petit Le Mans
11th
1 Driver was not competing for the points in the official Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.

Full V8 Supercar Championship Results

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Final pos Points
2011 Garry Rogers Motorsport YMC
R1
YMC
R2
ADE
R3
ADE
R4
HAM
R5
HAM
R6
BAR
R7
BAR
R8
BAR
R9
WIN
R10
WIN
R11
HID
R12
HID
R13
TOW
R14
TOW
R15
QLD
R16
QLD
R17
QLD
R18
PHI
Q
PHI
R19
BAT
R20
SUR
R21

10
SUR
R22

3
SYM
R23
SYM
R24
SAN
R25
SAN
R26
SYD
R27
SYD
R28
49th 207
2012 Stone Brothers Racing ADE
R1
ADE
R2
SYM
R3
SYM
R4
HAM
R5
HAM
R6
BAR
R7
BAR
R8
BAR
R9
PHI
R10
PHI
R11
HID
R12
HID
R13
TOW
R14
TOW
R15
QLD
R16
QLD
R17
SMP
R18
SMP
R19
SAN
Q
SAN
R20
BAT
R21
SUR
R22

Ret
SUR
R23

8
YMC
R24
YMC
R25
YMC
R26
WIN
R27
WIN
R28
SYD
R29
SYD
R30
NC 0 +

+ Ineligible for points

External links